Blog Post 6 - Papahana Kuaola

     This year my students and I had the opportunity to have a day where we had community guest speakers come to speak with us about their various organizations. One of these that came to speak with us was a group from Papahana Kuaola on the windward side of Oʻahu. It is a nonprofit organization that covers 63 acres that reach from peaks of the Koolau Mountains to the ocean. Their mission is to "create quality educational programs focused on environmental restoration and economic sustainability fully integrated with the Hawaiian knowledge in order to exemplify a lifestyle resepectful of kānaka, ʻāina, and ākua". After they spoke to us, we had the opportunity to visit Papahana Kuaola and have two days of hands on experiences that I want to share.
     At Papahana Kuaola we started by chanting (oli) to be allowed entrance into this beautiful place. We were greeted and welcomed to Waipao. We were broken into our two teams, Hui Honuamea to cover Aloha ʻĀina and Hui Kulāiwi to cover the wai (water). On the first day, there were many activities taking place. One group took a hike into the forest to collect waiawī (strawberry guava) branches, which is an invasive tree, to create ōʻō (digging tool). After they collected their ōʻō that needed to be taller than each student, it was then cut at where the branch touched their nose. This extra smaller piece was used to hit the long piece of the ōʻō to take off the bark of the branch. Once the branch was debarked, stones were used to make their ʻōʻō smooth. Another group was in the loʻi stomping the mud to make it soft as they weeded the edges of the loʻi. Another group went to harvest a piece of bamboo to create ʻohe wai (water vessel). These students also had to find the perfect pōhaku (rock) to be the lid to their ʻohe wai.
     The two teams of students then learned two chants (oli).
Hui Honuamea learned Pule ʻōʻō:
Kūmokuhāliʻi (repeat)
Kūpulupulu (repeat)
Kūʻālanawao (repeat)
Kūpaʻaikeʻe (repeat)
Kua i ke kumu (repeat)
Kua i kaʻe lau (repeat)
Kua i ka lālā (repeat)
E ʻike e nānā i ke kālai ʻana o ka ʻōʻō
he lapa ka oo mahi au i ka aina kula.

Hui Kulāiwi learned He Mele no Käne:                           The Water of Käne:
                                 (No Kaua‘i mai këia mele)
He ui, he ninau:                                                       A query, a question,
E ui aku ana au ia oe,                                               I put to you:
Aia i hea ka Wai a Kane?                                        Where is the water of Kane?
Aia i ka hikina a ka La,                                           At the Eastern Gate
Puka i Haehae,                                                        Where the Sun comes in at Haehae
Aia i laila ka Wai a Kane.                                       There is the water of Kane.
E ui aku ana au ia oe,                                              A question I ask of you:
Aia i hea ka Wai a Kane?                                       Where is the water of Kane?
Aia i Kaulana a ka la,                                             Out there with the floating Sun,
I ka pae opua i ke kai,                                            Where the cloud-forms rest on Oceans breast,
Ea mai ana ma Nihoa,                                            Uplifting their forms of Nihoa,
Ma ka mole mai o Lehua;                                      This side the base of Lehua;
Aia i laila ka Wai a Kane.                                      There is the water of Kane.
E ui aku ana au ia oe,                                             One question I put to you:
Aia i hea ka Wai a Kane?                                      Where is the water of Kane?
Aia i ke kuahiwi,                                                    Yonder on mountain peak,
I ke kualono,                                                          On the ridges steep,
I ke awawa,                                                            In the valleys deep,
i ke kahawai;                                                         Where the rivers sweep:
Aia i laila ka Wai a Kane.                                     There is the water of Kane
E ui aku ana au ia oe,                                            This question I ask of you:
Aia i hea ka Wai a Kane?                                     Where, pray, is the water of Kane?
Aia i kai, i ka moana,                                            Yonder, at sea, on the ocean,
I ke Kualau, i ke anuenue                                      In the driving rain, in the heavenly bow,
I ka punohu, i ka ua koko,                                     In the piled-up mist wraith, in the blood-red rainfall
I ka alewalewa;                                                      In the ghost-pale cloud form;
Aia i laila ka Wai a Kane.                                     There is the water of Kane.

     The next day, the students were broken into three groups, the first group (Mālama ʻĀina/Heiau) learned about the heiau and took care of the laʻi (pulling weeds within the ti leave patch). The second group took care of the imu (Imu/Mālama Mala). The third group made kuʻiʻai (mashing taro into paʻiʻai). The Mālama/Mele group first went to learn about the different levels within the heiau. Kanaka to kanaka or the bottom level was a place where you stand when not engaging in ceremonies. Kanaka to Āina or the second level and Kanaka to Akua or the top level where offerings were put. The pōhaku that formed the heiau were from different areas of the island. Niho rocks were the bottom rocks or base of the heiau where the rocks looks like they are chomping on the ʻāina. There are corner rocks which were the starter rocks that help to keep the rock wall up. Once the students finished learning about the heiau they started their Laʻi weed pulling activity. There were 3 main jobs for this group: the weed pullers that pulled the weeds and put them in a pile, the transfer people that moved the individual piles to the bucket people, and the bucket people that took the piles from the transfer people and put it into a giant pile. The students were taught that they could not just pull the weed since it could be wrapped around the laʻi. They needed to pull the weed from the root and shake off the excess dirt. The students were surprised at the amound of cane spiders and centipedes they found.
     The next group Imu/Mālama Mala first needed to prepare the ground for the imu. So the students cleaned the area where the imu was to be placed. They dug a whole about 3 feet deep to feed about 160 people. They then pushed the dirt around the rim about a foot away from the edge. Next was fire preparation. Wood was gathered and a chimney was formed by stacking sticks and rocks around a tall stick with a 5-inch diameter. Placing the firewood into the hole starting with smaller sticks first, then medium sticks, and then ending with logs. They stacked the wood into a diamond or pyramid shape. They created a hole facing the direction of the wind as the fire would need oxygen. Also there was a second hole on the opposite side of the fire stack just in case the wind changed direction. Next was rock preparation, pōhaku or ʻeho used in the fire, the bigger rocks were stacked around the stack of sticks. The students had to make sure not to cover the breathing puka. The fire was lit and burned for three hours when the logs were taken out and the rocks fell flat and were leveled so it was even. It was time to make the levels within the imu. Bottom was the hot rocks, then the haliʻi or banana stumps and extra laʻi, then the food, followed by the wet banana leaves, two layers of wet burlap, tarp, plastic over the top, and the dirt from the edge onto the plastic. Then we waited and lunch as our reward for all the hard work we did.
     The third group was the kuʻiʻai group. This group took steamed kalo that was sitting in buckets of water and skinned the kalo and took out any black spots. Once the kalo was cleaned they each a poi pounder and began to mash the kalo into paʻiʻai which was later made into the poi for our lunch. The students were advised that when cleaning and mashing they needed to have positive thoughts and not get angry with each other or we would be able to taste their anger and impatience in their final project. At the end of the day, we all came together to unite as one and enjoy the meal that we all helped in preparing. The students were happy with all that they learned and are even more looking forward to our Big Island trip in February.